Private company controls govt-job recruitment in Bihar: report
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Patna: An investigation in Bihar by the state Income Tax Department found that a private company is controlling the recruitment for government job posts in the state, ultimately a job scam, The Wire reported.
In 2024, the principal (investigation) of the Income Tax Department, Patna, had written to the chief secretary of Bihar, his findings on the scam, saying that two firms, Urmila International Service Private Limited and Urmila Infosolution, had a “virtual monopoly” over contract recruitment for several government departments in the state.
According to the IT department’s report, which was included in the letter, the said companies were involved in the paper leak.
The report said that a large number of government employees, ranging from high-ranking officials in the Bihar government to district-level staff, received bribes, lavish Diwali gifts, and gold and silver coins from the company to secure contractual positions in various departments. Meanwhile, the firms charged candidates between Rs 15,000 and Rs 50,000 for an appointment.
The report suggested that Kumar Avinash and Urmila International Services Private Limited were involved in the recruitment scam where contractual staff on various posts under the Government of Bihar were recruited, adopting illegal means, hijacking the whole recruitment process and collecting illegal money. The accused further distributed the money to different offices/departments and other related persons.
The mentioned Kumar Avinash is the director of the company with 98% of the shares, while Urmila Infosolutions is the proprietorship concern of Kumar Avinash, according to Ranjan Kumar’s letter.
The IT department had seized documents which contained the names of various departments and their officials who had received bribes and luxurious gifts from Urmila International.
When Kumar Avinash admitted that he had purchased the gifts, he claimed that none of the officials had accepted the gift. Also, he refuted the accusations listed in the IT department’s probe report.
However, The Wire reported that the allegations against Kumar by the IT department are not unfounded.